Garment finishing machine having automatic fluid flow control



Feb. 28, 1956 N. c. JACKSON GARMENT FINISHING MACHINE HAVING AUTOMATIC FLUID FLOW CONTROL Filed Feb. 17, 1955 INVENTOR.

6. Jacks-0 United States Patent GARMENT FINISHING MACHINE HAVING AUTO- MATIC FLUID FLOW CONTROL Nolan C. Jackson, Wichita, Kans., assignor to Wichita Precision Tool Company, Inc., Wichita, Kans., a corporation of Kansas Application February 17, 1955, Serial No. 488,943

Claims. (Cl. 22367) This invention relates to garment finishing machines of the type disclosed in my copending applications Serial No. 410,296, filed February 15, 1954, and Serial No. 476,000, filed December 17, 1954, this being a continuation-in-part of said applications. The garment finishing machines of said copending applications are characterized by the provision of a frame for mounting an inflatable garment-receiving bag of permeable material.

Associated with the bag are means for directing steam thereinto whereby to steam the garment draped over the bag, together with means for forcing hot air through the bag and, therefore, through the garment in order to dry the latter.

in application Serial No. 476,000, there is disclosed in one form of the invention, a partition between the steam discharge Within the bag and the blower for producing the artificial currents of air, which partition is in turn provided with a gate that is opened and closed during the cycle of operation. Such structure prevents the flow of steam toward the blower during the steaming cycle, but power means is therein provided to control the opening and closing of the gate.

It is the most important object of the instant invention to improve upon such gate assembly by utilization of an automatically operable valve assembly which is normally closed to act as a barrier against flow of steam to the blower, but which opens under the influence of air pressure emanating from said blower.

Another important object of this invention is to eliminate the problem heretofore experienced in garment finishers of this type relative to formation of condensate within the bag during the steaming cycle. The .disadvantage resulting from channeling of the condensate along the frame which supports the bag is removed by the provision of a fiocculent coating on the said frame.

Additional objects will be made clear as the following specification progresses, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a garment finishing machine having automatic fluid flow control made pursuant to the present invention, parts being broken away and in section to reveal details of construction.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged, plan view showing the valve structure entirely removed from the base upon which it is mounted; and

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken on irregular line Ill-III of Fig. 2, but illustrating the relationship of the valve structure to associated parts.

The garment finisher illustrated in Fig. 1 of the drawing may be supported in its entirety through the medium of a hollow base having a partition 12 which supports a steam receiver 14, the details of which are fully disclosed and claimed in my application Serial No. 476,000, and form no part of the instant invention. It is to be pointed out however, that steam is directed into the receiver 14 by way of a line 16 coupled with a suitable source of such steam (not shown). A perforated manifold 18, surrounded by a permeable bag "ice 19 and extending upwardly from the receiver 14 into a flexible and inflatable garments-receiving bag of permeable material designated by the numeral 20, receives steam from the receiver 14 by way of line 22 having a solenoid valve therein (not illustrated) controlled by foot pedal 23.

A coil 24 for heating air directed into the base 10 above partition 12 by blower 26, is connected with receiver 14 by means of a line 28. It is to be noted that the blower 26 communicates with the base 10 at one side thereof and is operated by an electric motor 30 which is energized upon closing of a switch 32.

The inflatable bag 20 is supported by a rotatable frame broadly designated by the numeral 34 which it encloses and including a standard 36 which supports a neckpiece 38 upon the uppermost end thereof. Standard 36 is rotatably carried by a plug 37 on the upper end of manifold 18, and supports a pair of shoulder elements operably associated with the neckpiece 38, one of which is shown in Fig. 1 and designated by the numeral 40. Adjustment of the shoulder elements 40 is effected by manipulation of a fingerpiece 42 that is in turn operably coupled with linkage 44 carried by the standard 36 and supporting the shoulder elements 40.

The frame 34 includes additionally, an upright backing member 46 interconnecting the neckpiece 38 with an annular band 48 that surrounds the manifold 18 at the upper end of base 10. A shorter backing member 50 is likewise connected with the band 48 and is connected with the backing member 46 by a crosshead 52, the latter of which may also connect with standard 36.

When a garment is drapped over the bag 20, the said garment and the bag 20 may be held against the backing plates 46 and 50 by clamps 54 and 56 respectively, swingably carried by the band 48 for movement toward and away from the backing members 46 and 50. The details of construction of clamps 54 and 56 form no part of the instant invention and need not be further described.

In accordance with the present invention, a barrier broadly designated by the numeral 58 is interposed between the base 10 and band 48 above the receiver 14. Barrier 58 includes a top wall 60 for the base 10 having a plurality of air passages 62. An outwardly extending, peripheral flange 64 on the wall 60, rests upon a similar out-turned peripheral flange 66 formed on the hollow base 10 at the uppermost end of the latter.

Band 48 surrounds the wall 60 and is provided with an out-turned flange 68 that rests upon the flange 64 of the barrier 58. The two relatively overlapping flanges 64 and 68 are held together by a sectional channel 70, the sections whereof are interconnected by pins or the like 72. Thus, barrier 58 may rotate with the band 48 and if fixed rigidly thereto (as may in some cases be desirable) such rotation of barrier 58 with bag 20 and the support 34 therefor is assured.

A central opening 74 in the wall 60 clears the manifold 18. Each of the air-flow passages 62 is provided with a valve 76 overlying the wall 60 and mounted thereon for free floating movement toward and away from the uppermost surface of the wall 60. To this end there is provided a number of upstanding guide pins 78 on the wall 69 for each valve plate 76 respectively, and upon which the said valve plates 76 are loosely mounted for vertical reciprocation.

It is clear from the foregoing that all of the passages 62 are normally closed by their valves 76 which rest upon the upper surface of wall 60. These valves 76 move to the closed position downwardly along the guide pins 78 by force of gravity whenever the blower 26 is in a standstill condition, and are held against the wall 60 in closing relationship to the opening 62 by the force of steam emasesame 3 nating from the manifold 18 whenever the solenoid valve in line 22 is opened.

Thus, in normal operation, after the garment to be finished is placed upon the bag 2t), and during the steaming cycle, motor 30 remains deenergized and steam is caused to flow into bag 20 from the manifold 18. Such steam permeates through the bag 29 and thence through the garment draped over the bag 20, but such steam is not permitted to escape downwardly into the base by virtue of the fact that the valves 76 are all held closed, not only by their inherent weight, but by the pressure of such steam.

During the next cycle of operation wherein the steam valve within line 22 is closed, and during energization of motor 30, the artificial currents of air produced by blower 26 are forced across the coil 24 and thence upwardly against the lower face of barrier 58. The force of such air causes the valves 76 to rise, permitting the air to flow into the bag by way of openings 62 in the wall 60. As soon as the motor 30 is deenergized, the plates 76 all fall by force of gravity to the normal position resting upon the wall 60 and closing the openings 62.

During the steaming cycle, condensate normally forms upon all parts of the frame 34 Within the bag 20 and inasmuch as such parts are normally made from metal or other materials having smooth surfaces, such condensate tends to channel or form into rivulets which is a definite disadvantage in proper finishing of garments on the bag 20. Such rivulets of water gravitating along standard 36, backing members 46 and 50, and other parts of the finisher within the bag 20, are diflicult to dry when the air flow cycle commences and such channeling also causes the garment to become too wet, particularly along areas where the garment is in close proximity to the frame 34, as for instance, along the backing members 46 and 50.

In order to prevent such channeling of the condensate, all metallic parts or all smooth surfaces of the frame 34 and band 48, are provided with a fiocculent coating 80. Such coating 80 may be produced in any conventional manner, but normally, it consists of a two-step process such as by first painting the said surfaces of the frame 34 with a shellac, varnish or other sticky material, and thereupon blowing a suitable flock thereon.

Flocking processes are Well known and upon proper selection of the flock itself, there will be presented a fibrous or velvety coating 80, capable of preventing the channeling or forming of rivulets as aforementioned. Any suitable short wool fibers, vegetable fibers, waste material or flock made from a cellulose-type of fabric, may be utilized in order to present the roughened surface 80 and it has been found that the condensate forming thereon will remain as globules or droplets until such time as the hot air is directed into the bag 20 to dry the same.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. In a garment finisher, a hollow base having a top wall provided with an air passage; a frame mounted on said base and extending upwardly from said wall for supporting an inflatable, garment-receiving bag of permeable material in communication with said passage; structure communicating with the base for producing artificial currents of air and directing the same through said passage into the bag on said frame; steam control means having a discharge within the bag above the wall; and a closure valve for said passage movable to an open position under pressure of air emanating from said structure, said valve being floatingly mounted on the top wall for gravitational movement to a position closing the air passage.

2. In a garment finisher, a hollow base having a top wall provided with an air passage; a frame mounted on said base and extending upwardly from said wall for supporting an inflatable, garment-receiving bag of permeable material in communication with said passage; structure communicating with the base for producing artificial currents of air and directing the same through said passage into the bag on said frame; steam control means having a discharge within the bag above the wall; and a closure valve for said passage movable to an open position under pressure of air emanating from said structure, said valve being mounted on the top wall for movement to a position closing the air passage under pressure of steam in said bag.

3. In a garment finisher as set forth in claim 2 wherein is provided a plurality of upstanding guide pins on said top wall, said valve being loosely mounted on said pins for movement toward and away from the uppermost surface of said top wall.

4. In a garment finisher, means for supporting a garment to be finished; steam control means having a dis- .charge disposed to direct steam into the garment on said supporting means; structure for producing artificial currents of air and directing the same into the garment; valve means between said discharge and said structure; and means mounting said valve means for free movement to a closed position under force of steam pressure on one side of the valve means when air flow is discontinued, to block the flow of steam to said structure, and free movement to an open position under pressure of air on the opposite side of the valve means when flow of steam is discontinued, whereby air flows freely from said structure to the garment.

5. In a garment finisher, a hollow base; blower means communicating with said base for directing an air stream thereinto; a frame mounted on said base and extending upwardly therefrom; an inflatable, garment-receiving bag of permeable material supported by said frame and communicating with the base for receiving said air stream therefrom; steam control means carried by the base and discharging into the bag; normally closed valve structure within the base for blocking the flow of steam to the blower when the latter is not in operation; and means mounting the valve structure for free movement to an open position under pressure of air emanating from the blower when the flow of steam is discontinued whereby the air flows freely into the bag.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,140,961 Lendle Dec. 20, 1938 2,169,118 Wardwell Aug. 8, 1939 2,338,776 Miller Jan. 11, 1944 2,533,761 Brenner et al Dec. 12, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS 467,142 Great Britain June 11, 1937 

